The ultimate commercial jingle mashup, played on piano using products instead of fingers

YouTuber Grant Woodard mashed up and multitracked 25 of the most recognizable commercial jingles using a Rhodes sound on a digital piano. The kicker is that instead of his fingers, he used the actual products (Coke bottle, Old Spice deodorant stick, and so on) to strike the keys.

As part of a media company, it’s fair to say that advertising is on our minds quite often at Keyboard. Ads help pay our bills of course, but as importantly, the advertising industry is an important source of gigs for spare-bedroom composers who write jingles. In these days of sophisticated viral marketing campaigns, the idea of a jingle may seem quaint and even corny, but for the same reason that most hit songs need a memorable melody, an “ear worm” is still one of the most effective tools for getting people to remember your product--the catchier the better.

So when this video came across our desks, we had to share it with you. YouTuber Grant Woodard mashed up and multitracked 25 of the most recognizable commercial jingles using a Rhodes sound on a digital piano. The kicker is that instead of his fingers, he used the actual products (Coke bottle, Old Spice deodorant stick, and so on) to strike the keys. The counterpoint and harmony is flawless.

On Choose Your Road, Jesse Hiatt may know exactly how to work the angle of funky white boy crooning as the girls are swooning, but it’s when his fingers hit the keys that we hear his true voice: formidable and funky chops on Hammond, Rhodes, Clavinet, and New Orleans-style piano. Hiatt isn’t shy about musically admiring his ostensible heroes, from Graceland-era Paul Simon on “Mississippi Dreamcatcher” to Little Feat on “Out of My League” to Prince-ly falsetto over a southern-fried “Superstition” groove on “Love.” What makes this the good kind of similar — like a jazzer reverently quoting Bill Evans and unlike M.C. Hammer sampling Rick James — is that the songs are so consistently wellcrafted and the keyboard playing is so tasty. Sly and the Family Stone alums Cynthia Robinson and Jerry Martini contributing killer horn parts throughout is another testament to Hiatt’s cred. Choose Your Road is an A+ senior thesis from an honor student of soul —

When we caught 25-year-old singer, songwriter, and keyboardist Mary Lambert opening for Gavin DeGraw and Matt Nathanson this past summer, we were inspired and uplifted in that way that seen-it-all music journalists too seldom feel. She makes you want to get out of your seat, dance, cheer her on, and hug the stranger next to you.

The Rhodes electric piano is one of the most recognizable and imitated keyboard instruments ever, appearing on some of the most indelible recordings of the past halfcentury. Legendary keyboard players such as Josef Zawinul, Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock, Joe Sample, George Duke, and Donald Fagen got a large part of their signature sound from the Rhodes, and consider themselves forever indebted to inventor Harold Rhodes.

The first time Joel Zimmerman donned his light-pulsing mouse head, who knew it would become every bit as iconic as Kiss’ makeup or Daft Punk’s helmets? Still, that pales to the success of his music. Deadmau5 has become one of the world’s most influential electronic musicians, earning countless accolades including a Juno Award, a number one hit on Billboard’s dance chart, and a Grammy nomination. The most ironic of these is last year’s rise to number six in DJ magazine’s authoritative “Top 100 DJs” poll — because though he does play sets for oceans of undulating fans, he has more in common with electronic music pioneers like Tangerine Dream and Kraftwerk than with most of the people on that list. Just before San Francisco’s mecca dance music event, LoveParade, deadmau5 and I had a great chat about modular synths, electronica stereotypes, tools and techniques, and why he is and isn’t a DJ.

The Key Buy is Keyboard magazine's award for outstanding musical instruments and music technology products. In this blog entry are the most often-asked questions from readers and music products manufacturers about it, along with our answers.